Indian Medical Devices Industry Boosted by Liberalization of FDI

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion released a press note a few days ago that liberalized FDI in the sector of medical devices.

The expected and welcomed move comes after Cabinet had given the green signal in December 2014 to bring out the medical devices sector from the previous restraints that were placed on it.

Once liberalized, any foreign company that plans on investing in an Indian company that operates in the medical devices sector does no longer need to go through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

The liberalization will prove to be a blessing for investment deprived companies in the medical devices industry. It could provide the crucial lifeline that the sector needs to build ahead.

Through this move, the Indian government is attempting to encourage manufacturers to tap the global market for 2015 in the medical devices sector.

The liberalization was required because the previous Drugs Act only defined the various drugs in the healthcare industry, and left little scope of definition for medical devices.

The FDI policy further regulates most investments made in the pharmaceutical industry, but made no additions to the Drugs Act. This resultantly gave the FIPB the option to classify a relevant device as a medical device. Such a device however, may still not be classified as the same using the Drugs Act.

The scope of consideration for medical devices through the FDI policy by the FIPB is now larger than what the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization did. The CDSCO previously used to define medical devices using the 1940 Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The different method currently in use has cleared much of the confusion in terms of interpreting what a medical device is.